Sunday, May 17, 2009

Dusk; a series of vampire stories that what the reader expects and twist it around just a bit. Unlike most stories about the very romanticized blood suckers, Dusk puts it focus on one particular familiar, Eve, and how she servers the vampire in a way not explored in most vampire tales.

Meet Eve, vampire enforcer, hired muscle. This is one girl that does not run errands to her closest vampire Ash; she enforces vampire law with all the strength and speed of a true vampire. Whether it’s tracking down a vampire who turned a human, going overseas to take out a law breaking vampire, confronting her past or showing a high-school kid the dark arts are not something to mess with, Eve has her hands full in the new life she lives. First Eve takes out a vampire who turned an unsuspecting human who himself does not know how to handle his change. Next Eve revisits her past life and ex-husband, a hidden test from Ash then she heads to Europe to face-off with a vampire law breaking vampire and finally Eve must convince a young boy to lift a curse.

So those are the main story points as written by David Doub and what each does is introduce a bit more about Eve and the world she lives in. First we meet her as an enforcer, one who uses blood from Ash to ‘power-up’ for lack of a better term. She lays down the law and sticks with Ash even at his urging for her to return to her former life, a life she revisits in the second story. The third story outlines how the vampire world does have law, even overseas, that must be enforced. Finally a jaded high-school student decides to go all Carrie on his classmates and meets an end that shows life is cruel. The stories, their non-linearity, really offer a satisfying look, a different look, into the world of vampire. Eve is both strong and very flawed and the world she lives in is not all romance and the undead. The cover art and design by Brett Middleton Joamette Gil is really cool, yeah cool (great descriptor no?). The art for each story is by different artist and sadly is not the strong point of this book. The first story makes excellent use of shadow and has a very hommies feel to it that would have been perfect for the entirety of the book. Maki Naro delivers some very dark and moody art that really enhances the dark storytelling. The rest of the art tells the story but does not stick with the reader.

Overall there is one chapter of solid art but an entire book of interesting stories that just touch on Eve and the vampire world she is part of. If you like vampire stories then Dusk is worth the purchase as its original and different. Vampire tales that don’t center on the romantic figures and deal with points of addiction, abuse and murder is not for the faint of heart but it is for fans of engaging tales from a different angle.